Machine for dusting sheet materials



May 28, 1935. SMITH ET AL 2,003,267

MACHINE FOR DUSTING SHEET MATERIALS Filed Oct. 12, 1933 s Sheets-Sheet 1May 28, 1935. s nr AL 2,003,267

MACHINE FOR DUSTING SHEET MATERIALS Filed Oct. 12, 1933 3- Sheets-Sheet2 17W 6459/51 SM/M Comm/v SM/TH May 28, 1935. -e. SMITH r m.

MACHINE FOR DUSTING SHEET MATERIALS Filefi OCC- 1 1 53 3 Sheets-Sheet 3Patented. May 28, 1935 UNITED STATES MACHINE FOR DUSTING SHEE MATERIALSGabriel Smith and Colman Smith, Leyton,

. London, England Application October 12,

1933, Serial No. 693,359

In Great Britain March 21, 1933 2 Claims.

Inthe production of sheet material for use in making cartons, forexample, where ornamentation is achieved by surface printing with atacky medium and subsequent application thereto of powdered material,one of the difiiculties is to remove excess powdered material in acomplete and satisfactory manner. Thus boards which leave a bronzingmachine, for instance, although intended to be clean are Or may notalways be so and therefore as a precautionary measure it is customary todust the boards before passing them to other machines for furthertreatment. Only in this way can it be ensured that blemish in appearanceshall be avoided, fouling of bearings or working parts in subsequentmachines reduced and saving of material effected. Hand dusting is toolaborious and slow so that the usual procedure is to run the boardsthrough a machine normally intended for bronzing and dusting but notsupplied with bronzing material, Such machines are expensive and do notjustify their use for the minor purpose of dusting.

The object of the present invention is to provide a method of andmachine for dusting boards such as referred to in an economical andrapid fashion and applicable for removing loosely adherent matter fromone or other or both sides of sheet material in general.

To this end the invention consists in exposing 30 the surface of thematerial, whilst travelling rapidly, to suction intermediate of brushingoperations of different degrees which respectively first lightly disturbthe foreign matter and subsequently forcibly dislodge any particleswhich meanwhile may not have been removed by suction, in order that theyalso shall be removed by suction.

A machine for the purpose aforesaid consists of a construction of feedrolls, brushing and suc- 40 tion means, part of the brushing means beingin advance of, and part behind, the zone exhausted by the suction means.

One constructional form of the improved machine is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, where Fig. 1 is a side view partly in elevationand partly in section, Fig. 2 a sectional elevation at right angles toFig. 1 and Fig. 3 a plan view with parts removed. Fig. 4 shows part ofFig, 1 to a larger scale and Fig. 5 is an'elevation of part of Fig. 4taken at right angles thereto.

As here shown a feed table I and a delivery table 2 are arranged atopposite sides of two narrow suction nozzles 3, 3*- extending the fullwidth of the tables and each equipped at the orifice with bristlesinstanced as a stationary brush or maturing the material.

4 and a rotary brush 5. The brushes 5 of the two nozzles 3, 3 arelocated one above the other and are geared together by spur wheels 6 sothat they rotate in opposite directions. Branch pipes 1, 1 respectivelyconnect the nozzles 3, 3 to the inlet 5 of an exhauster 8, whichdischarges by pipe 9 to a cyclone or other suitable dust extractor l0,whereof II is the storage receptacle. Sheets placed upon the table I arefed by being gripped between collars 12 upon upper and lower spindlesI3, M at one side of the nozzles, the delivery being continued by asimilar set of gripping collars l2? upon spindles I 3 I 4 at the otherside of the nozzles. These collars constitute the feed rolls referredto, which being narrow, can collect little or no dust. The machine isexemplified as equipped with an electric motor l5 driving, by belt, ashaft i6. This shaft drives through a. spur wheel I! a wheel l8 upon afurther shaft l9, the said wheel l8 meshing with wheels 20, 20 upon thespindles l4, Il The upper spindles I3, I3 are not positively driven butmerely frictionally rotated through the collars 12 therein; the 'spindlel 3 at the right hand side of Fig. 1 has its bearings in a frame 2|pivoted at 22 to the machine so that it can be readily moved into andout of position. The shaft l9 further drives, through chain and sprocketgearing 23 the spindle of the lowermost rotary brush 5, the direction ofbrush rotation being opposed to that of the direction of feed of thematerial to the machine. 24 is a fence to guide the sheets upon thetable I and 25 (Fig. 2) represent screws to enable the collars I2, 12*-to be fixed at different positions along their spindles.

A machine according to the invention may be driven at such a speed thatit is capable of dealing with the output of more than one gripper feedor other slow operating machine, and although shown as adapted fortreating both sides of material, may obviously have only one nozzle andbrushing means to dust only the upper or the lower side of sheets. Inthe case of a machine for dealing with say carton-making boards receivedfrom a bronzing machine, the feed rolls, brushing and suction means maybe associated with other board treating means capable of being operatedin as rapid a manner, such as means for calendering, burnishing,embossing, slitting 50 As illustrated, the machine has two pairs ofrolls 26 internally heated by gas supplied under pressure through thepipe system 21, the lowermost roll of each pair being rotated by wheels28, 29 which mesh with a common wheel 30 of appropriate width drivenfrom the wheel [8 by gearing 3|.

What we claim is:-

l. A machine of the character described, comprising in combination, afeed table and a delivery table, a suction space between the two tablesthrough which material is passed from the former to' the latter, meansbetween the feed table and said suction space and like means betweensaid space and the delivery table for feeding the material as stated,opposed stationary brushing means between the first of said feedingmeans and the applied suction area and opposed movable brushing meansbetween said area and the second of said feeding means between each ofwhich the material is directed in feed movement; said stationary andmovable brushing means being both contained within a chamber providingthe suction space, and said suction space being connected with means forthe application of suction at both sides of the material passedtherethrough.

2. A machine for removing powder from sheet material, comprising incombination, a feed table for the material and a delivery tabletherefor, a chamber providing a suction space through which the materialis passed from the feed table to the delivery table, roller meansbetween the feed table and said chamber and between said chamber and thedelivery table for feeding the material from the one table to the other,a pair of opposed stationary brushes in the entrance side of saidchamber between which the material is first passed in transittherethrough and a pair of opposed rotary brushes in the exit side ofsaid chamber between which the material is last passed in emergencetherefrom; said suction space being formed intermediate the two pairs ofbrushes arranged in proximate relation to each other within the chamber;means for applying suction to said space at both sides of the materialpassed therethrough, and means for actuating said feeding and saidrotary brush means.

GABR'IEL SMITH. COLMAN SMITH.

